Millie Bruno
by The Little Fury
Summary: The story follows a girl in the Half Life era where the life is brutal. Millie Bruno is a descendant from a sacred wolf clan who is thrown into life under the ruling of the Combines.
1. Chapter 1

A tall man in heavy dark blue armour stood firm as he held on to a tall, brown haired woman, holding her arms firmly behind her skinny figure; she was extremely under fed. The soldier bore a mask which resembled a gas mask but was much more ghostly and covered his entire face, his armour also displayed no sign of flesh. It was difficult to tell if this being was human. He had cold metal gloves and strong black boots. Upon his right arm he had a strange yellow symbol with foreign imprints. The tall dark blue walls that confined the two were cold and metallic. Everything in the area and beyond was also dark and metallic, the alien-like kingdom these armoured men had built were ghastly.

The fragile woman raised her head and her thin brown hair drifted away from her face; she had strong shadows under her eyes, colourless dried lips and blind eyes.

"Head down." The man recited.

As a man's bitch, she dropped her head to her chest again, almost losing her balance in the process.

This was Millie Bruno, a forsaken girl in her mid twenties. She bore three large scars on her right cheek and her right thigh. She was normal height, around a hundred and seventy-five centimetres. She attempted a wriggle which ended up as a little twitch of her finger.

Millie remembered the tales of how her life began. She was taken into her people's forest and abandoned in an open patch in the middle of the night. This was the forest of her clan, The Silver Wolf. They all used to exclaim what a brave infant she was; no crying nor escapism attempts. She knew they lied. Of course a child, barely a moon's age, would bawl for her mother. The thing that stopped her from escaping the patch was the beasts of her clan, the things her people called Beauties of the Forest.

Wolves.

Wolves surrounded the patch and confronted the baby and judged her.

The _wolves_ decided wether a child survived or not. A single growl in the 'ceremony' and the child was sacrificed to the wolf pack. An overwhelming slash of its claw on the child's cheek, which some children did not even survive, and the child was accepted into the clan.

The largest and strongest wolf examined little Millie and took an unusual interest in her eyes. The beast slashed her right cheek and her right thigh.

Unusual.

And left.

Along with the mighty beasts of the forest.

Millie was pulled out of her thoughts as another armoured man with a heavy face mask emerged from a set of futuristic, automated doors. The two knew exactly what to do, they were like robots; walking stiffly and emotionlessly. Her captor grabbed the back of Millie's head and pulled it down, so her face was shown to the other man. Millie's body was too exhausted to even show pain on the exterior. She _felt_ the pain.

The man looked slightly and effortlessly, he nodded and Millie's captor forced her head down again and shoved her forwards. They began their adventure in the entwining fortress of the armoured beings, the pattern continued throughout it all; the cold, metallic, dark pattern. Millie had no energy to take in all this darkness, she only saw the floor.

Millie remembered the continuing tales...

Her people thought she was completely blind for a while, until she was in the forest one day with her parents - around three years of age - wolves came out of the bushes and surrounded her again. Her parents, named Andrea and Loran, were pushed aside abruptly as the wolves took interest in their daughter once more.

Little Millie was seen hobbling over to the alpha and had her forehead kissed by the nose tip of the beauty.

After the strange ritual, her parents confronted Millie and she kept her eyes locked onto the wolf of rich grey fur.

There were five packs in the Silver Wolf clan, including Hunter, Tracker, Healer, Carer and Trainer. Each - obviously - had different priorities in the clan itself. The Hunters and Trackers were the main offensive packs, the Hunters hunted for prey and had incredible strength. The trackers had an amazing sense of smell and could detect prey, danger and pretty much anything else, miles away (Of course not as well as their wolf, or else that would be disrespect). The Health pack was the neutral pack that assisted in offence and defence, they collected and created medicines and other methods of treatment. The Carers and Trainers were responsible of taking care of the young and teaching them the way of the forest. The carers took children from the age of four into their care so the child would not become attached to it's parents. They cared for them and taught them a basic understanding of the forest until the age of six or seven (Depending on the child). The trainers took children in after the carers to teach them the way of the forest thoroughly and to give them the experience and understanding of each pack so they could choose well when they came of age. However, most children took on a pack of which their father or mother were a part of.

Millie's generation was quite small, about seven children. The ones she remembered most were Alexis and Alina, twins which were older than her by about a year and Sayn, the lead Hunter's son who was destined many great things, he was around five years older than Millie. There was one child which Millie remembered very vaguely, she was of the Amber Wolf Clan and she was her closest friend, however, the two were practically forbidden from interacting with each other so they met only occasionally.

The 'Amber Wolf girl', as Loran called her, was the only child that Millie got on with, Millie always wished she had been born into her clan. This girl was also the only girl to witness Millie howling with the Silver Wolves of her clan and seeing the wolves treat Millie as their own. The two daren't to tell their elders or else they'd be accused of disrespect.


	2. Chapter 2

Millie next woke with pain scattered throughout her body however, mostly originating from her sore head. Her nose ached from the fowl scents but she managed to reel herself up against the cold metal wall. She was in a small room with a large metal door on one wall. There was a dent shaped in a cuboid at the top.  
>A window.<p>

It was dark. She placed her hand upon her cheek and sighed weakly as she felt her three scars still present.

Her eyes were sore with scratches around them.

"Is anyone.." That's all she could manage.  
>'Help!' 'Is anyone there?' 'I'm not blind!' She screamed in her head but merely coughs exited her mouth.<p>

The dent slid open and ghastly masked eyes peered in. This time, the figure was not as alien-like.  
>He hauled the door open cautiously but relaxed, knowing this captive was too weak to try to escape.<br>"Are you alright?" This voice sounded human.  
>She looked up weakly and looked down again.<br>"I am a medic, trained specially. Let me help you." He said, quite comfortingly.  
>The human walked over to the fragile girl and hooked his arms under her legs and back, lifted her gently and carried her away from the jail.<p>

The two walked and walked what seemed hours for Millie, through the same doors and the same walls. It was difficult to tell they weren't walking in a complete circle.

"I have been sent by my superiors to inspect you." He broke the silence.

The confirmed human had softer gloves and a less terrifying mask. He bore a long dark-blue coat and a belt which seemed to hold his defences and radio.

"~Copy, units. CP - eight-one-nine-two-seven. Signing In. Patrol areas 56-103 commencing in five. Four. Thr-" He turned off his radio.

He cleared his throat.  
>"You will be in the medical unit for two to three weeks ma'am."<br>She looked up in astonishment.  
>"You are severely under fed and require immediate attention."<br>She closed her eyes, the swaying of walking movements were soothing her aching body.

Millie next woke in bright lights and a pain in her right arm. She lifted her head slightly and saw a tube plugged into her body.  
>The same man approached her. He had less armour on and eased her head down.<br>"So, from what I can tell. You're not blind."  
>Millie looked up weakly.<br>"No."  
>He chuckled lightly.<br>"So you can talk!"  
>He settled down and looked closer to her face.<br>"But... you have white eyes."  
>He backed away and drew a chair on which to sit on.<br>"Where do you originate from?"  
>Silence.<br>"Do you even know?"  
>"Do you know your name?"<br>"Do you know anything?"  
>Still, she kept quiet.<p>

He cleared his throat.  
>"Alright, I know you're afraid. Some metal giants just pulled you out of your life."<br>She looked at him sharply.  
>"But, but, hey. We saved you, you were alone in the forest, surrounded by wolves. You almost died."<br>She weakly laughed and turned her head over to the other side.  
>The room was large. Three beds including her own. There were cabinets full of medical goods. The rooms itself was white washed, many other medical instruments were scattered around. She was alone with her ghastly captor.<p>

'How did I get here?' She asked herself. She barely remembered the room beyond.  
>Memories flashed before her. She was escaping. Running away from something. With her wolves. They were leading her to the Ambers and her Amber friend.<p>

No survivors.

None, but her.

She jerked upwards, with pain she groaned. Her captor soothed her down.  
>"You must rest." She looked at him weakly as he lowered her back down to the bed.<br>He stood.  
>"I will bring you food. What do you like?"<br>She looked at him sarcastically.  
>"Right, anything. I'll be right back."<p>

The door shut and Millie looked around weakly, she saw some of the man's armour laid out on a strong, white table. The room was moderately clean but cold. Millie looked at herself and saw foreign clothes on her; some strange track suit trousers and a ragged white top. Her forest clothes were long gone.  
>A feeling of tingling grew from her chest to her throat. It was not wound pain, it was home pain. Her brain still ached and refused to remember the last moments of her tribe.<p>

Fire, large metallic figures entering the forest; their fowl cold smells. Her people, killed before her.  
>"Millie.. run.." her fathers final words washed over her as she vividly remembered his stern look and felt shove towards the forest.<p>

She jerked slightly and opened her eyes. A sweet smell of pork filled her nostrils, she looked towards the smell and met the goggled gaze of her captor, who was sorting some files.  
>"Finally you wake. I thought the pork would go cold." He said while picking up the warm plate and brining it over to Millie's bed.<br>Millie attempted to sit up slowly but was weakened after her sleep.  
>He helped her.<br>"I will cut these into edible pieces for you to enjoy." He said as be begun to slice the meat into small cubes for Millie to eat.

She took the fork after his cutting and stabbed the meat weakly. The taste was like heaven after such isolation from food. She began greedily shoving it down her mouth.

"I shall fetch you a drink, eat up. It'll get harder from now on." He coldly said.

Millie was fed and cared for the rest of the day. Until it was dark and she grew tiresome.  
>Her captor was sitting at his desk, doing more paperwork.<br>Millie felt strength running through her muscles and was sitting up, enjoying warm tea.  
>She looked over to the armoured man.<br>"What is your name?"  
>He popped up and turned to her in his chair.<br>"I am CP unit six-seven-five-eight-two."  
>She looked unimpressed.<br>"I am unauthorised to give my personal details out."  
>He swivelled back around to his paperwork.<br>"I am a medic, quite low ranked. You are my fifth patient that requires almost twenty-four-seven care."  
>She sipped her tea.<br>"Low ranked?"  
>"I am not authorised to relay anymore detail."<br>He kept his head down.  
>There was a long pause.<br>"What are those things?"  
>He ignored the question.<br>She had almost forgotten the armour covering him. Even though he seemed normal, he was not. He worked for _them_. He was loyal to _them_. He was not like her.

The silence was broken when her captor clicked his pen and tucked away the papers. Millie followed his movements to the door.  
>"It is now eleven o'clock in the evening. I will return five o'clock in the morning." His tone had changed.<p>

Millie sighed and looked down to her now, almost empty, cup of tea.  
>The door shut and the lock clicked several times.<p> 


End file.
